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    Showing posts with label Saturday Night Live. Show all posts
    Showing posts with label Saturday Night Live. Show all posts


  1.
    This week we mourn the passing of 
    Nelson Mandela


    A man who, by the smallest measure, was undeniably the personification of the word extraordinary.

    No small wonder past and present leaders of the world and
    representatives of state gathered to salute the life of this man.


    British Prime Minister David Cameron, Helle Thorning Schmidt Denmark's Prime Minister and U.S. President Barack Obama;
    all knew this was the place to be at a rare moment in time.

    I can't imagine the high level security measures taken to assure the safety of modern day potentates congregating in remembrance of a beloved man whose dignity and stature eclipsed them all, yet...

    An unknown* at this ceremony, stood next to the world's great and famous and stood out, his vetting and credentials be damned!
    The Worlds Most Infamous Sign Language Interpreter

     Hundreds took to social media denouncing this (unidentified??!!)* man as a fraud and fake from his first movements on stage. He was in fact an arm flapping mockery of sign language interpreting.

     Yes Dear Readers, all three of you read my mind. What we have here is a Saturday Night Live sketch of global proportions writing itself as the world watched and the deaf fumed in outraged.

     Whoever he is, he's a funny guy and WHEN he gets (Not If He Gets) his own reality show, I can only hope to play his manicurist.

     *Since this writing, Thamsanqa Jantjie has admitted he's been hospitalized in a mental facility and was suffering hallucinations during his stint as interpreter at the Mandela ceremony. As I was saying, "I can't imagine the high level security measures taken to assure the safety of modern day potentates congregating..."

     Rhonda Hansome is a writer, directer, actress and stand-up comic. Make reservations now to see her be funny live, Dec. 27th 9:30 PM at the Duplex, NYC. View her on the web in Black Actress as the Casting Director and as Mrs Johnson in Disciplinary Actions.


    Posted by RHC at 3:21 AM | Labels: , , , , , | 7 comments | |

  2. Saturday Night Live in Mindy’s World

    Tuesday, April 23, 2013


    Saturday Night Live in Mindy’s World

     

    Last Saturday night, I went to see Mindy Levokove’s musical play, “Obama: At the Table Second Term” at the WOW Café and Theatre.  I must’ve gone with little skin because the tears just poured.  It wasn’t crying with sobbing noise or even a runny nose, but tears kept popping out and running down my face.  I also laughed.  Mostly I was struck by people making things happen.  The theatre is the oldest woman and trans-gendered run theatre in the country.  The purpose was to allow women’s theatre that wouldn’t be welcomed in many other places.  A place where no one tells you what to do.  Imagine.
    Wow Cafe Theatre

    The cast was 12 women who sang the play.  They represented the people, the president, the daughters of the president, the 1%, those imprisoned for suspicion of terrorism, the Occupy Wall Street folks, Hurricane Sandy victims/survivors, etc., etc.  Mindy Levokove wrote all the songs and was praised by the cast for incorporating their ideas and feelings as well.  That is the Mindy Levokove I know.  We happen to both teach at the same place, and there, I am known as Mindy M. while she is known as Mindy L.  I find that funny because that never happened for me in grade school.  There was more than one Linda and Jeffrey and David, but not Mindy.
    The woman representing the theatre let us know how we can become involved if we wanted to.  It opened a door in my head.  I have to make things happen too.  That feeling may have contributed to my tears.  It’s possible. 

    Mindy Levokove did something I have often imagined doing if I ever were to cast a show involving dancers.  Her dancers did not cease to dance or exist after age 20-something or when not skinny.  We had the opportunity to enjoy the talents of women of all body types and ages.  I enjoyed it very much, basically for the same reason I like the Bronx.  It’s real.  We don’t exclude portions of the population to make it look a certain way.  It represents the real world.  The round, the angular, and all the ages and shades of brown we are.
    https://www.facebook.com/mindy.levokove?ref=ts&fref=ts#!/photo.php?v=568849919813859&set=vb.100000665672322&type=2&theater

    When I left, I didn’t feel like going straight home.  So I walked from East 4th Street to West 3rd Street and went to the Olive Tree Café.  The comics from the Comedy Cellar usually eat there and hang out.  I typically sit at a table but this time, I sat at the bar.  All the surfaces are blackboards, and they serve up cups of chalk.  I like to draw (especially since no smoking is allowed in anyplace).  They make a decent Long Island Ice Tea which I ordered and began drawing.  I happened to be near the table of comics.  They don’t know me.  I’m not at their level in the business.  Most were men and one woman.  She looked kind of manly too.  At some point, one of the men sat next to me at the bar and ate his food.  I think he said hello.  I returned the hello.  I continued to draw.  He didn’t offer to buy me a drink.  Then he said, “Where you be staying at?”  So “what’s your name” is not what one thinks of, just how far do I have to go to fuck you, basically.  Well sir, you may have to go as far as Venus.  I just sent my vagina there for safe keeping.  Yep, just before I got here and ordered a drink, I sent it off ‘cause I know how things can get when I’m drinking and in the company of such a charming man as yourself. 
    In actuality, I laughed at his question.  I told him a student once asked me that and I thought it sounded so temporary like I was on someone’s couch.  Then he said, “You teach?”  “Yes, I teach adults who didn’t finish high school.”  And that ended that stimulating conversation.

    I should write a song:

    It’s so freakin’ easy
    To be penis-freeeee!
    Even when I’m not tryin’
    There is just no denyin’
    Men are the biggest cock-blockers that beeeeeeeee!                                           

    It’s just too damn easy
    To be penis-freeeee!
    Some think it’s cool to live lies 
    And just worry about dick size 
    They block their own cocks with stupidityyyyyyyyyy!

    (or something like that.)

     

     

     

    April 2013

    Posted by Mindy Matijasevic at 5:12 AM | Labels: , , , , , | 4 comments | |

  3. My Audition at The Comic Strip

    Friday, August 10, 2012

    This past Tuesday I got to audition for The Comic Strip Live. A very historic venue, where Seinfeld, Murphy, and Rock were discovered and managed. Jimmy Failla, a very funny comic and friend who performs there regularly, told me to come to the club two Tuesdays ago to hang out and meet people. Everything I had ever heard from Marc Maron's WTF podcast came to fruition. I got to chat with the pros, old and new. They told me stories of "back in the day" over whiskey. It was a magical night. I got to meet one of the club's owners, Bob. We talked about SNL and he said to me "You know who Eddie Murphy is? Yeah? I produced all of his albums and managed him from when he was unknown." After which, I shat. Then he asked me to audition the following week, which I did. After shatting a little more. I was terrified. But I have taken on a philosophy that has really helped me not want to kill myself after a bad set: As long as I don't trip and fall on stage, I did good. Low expectations. Works really well for my anxiety driven, sometimes self-hating psyche.

    I arrived at the club around 9:30, checked in with the booker and was told I was going to go on in 5 minutes. Completely not expecting that at all. Definitely thought I'd have at least an hour of hang time to pace back and forth. Totally wanted to shat my pants but I couldn't because I was wearing a dress. Have you ever had a moment where you thought you were going to die from something that you definitely could never die from? It was like that a little. As I was in the green room peaking through the door into the theater, waiting for the MC  to intro me, Jimmy and a bunch of other pros who could do a 15 minute set in their sleep and kill, kept saying "Krystyna look, you're gonna be fine. I think you're gonna be ok. Just breathe. Calm down. Whats the worst that could happen? Don't suck. Its ok, you're gonna be fine. Seriously though, don't blow it."


    Luckily, I got a tip from a previous comic that the audience was hard to please. It's always a huge advantage to get this information before you go on stage, because you can walk in the room knowing what you're up against. 


    Aside from both my hands shaking like I was on a coke binge, and not being able to see the red light, the 5 minutes (that was probably 7) went well. I didn't trip and I got great feedback. And then I drank a lot of whiskey.

    Later, I got to hang out down in the basement area where all the comics dwelled on Fridays and Saturdays after their sets... since 1985. I felt like I was touring the SNL studios. It was so nostalgic, even though I had never been there before. They had a lot of De La Vega art hanging, like this cardboard dude below. IT WAS GRAND.



    The moral of the story is... you need those moments of terrifying, shat-inducing fear and you need the experience of overcoming that and just doing it. Because as long as you don't trip... you're in good shape.


    xoxoKrystyna


    Posted by Krystyna Hutchinson at 9:09 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | 1 comments | |